Curtain-fixture.



PAENTBD MAR. 5, 1907;

C. L. HOPKINS. CURTAIN FIXTURE. APPLIOATIQEIILBD DBO. 7.1906A wxsmuamn, D. a

CHARLES L. HOPKINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed December 7, 1906. Serial Nol 346,707.

To all wwm/ t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HOPKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Fixtures, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to improvements in curtain-fixtures such as arelsecured to springactuated curtains or shades at or near the lower edges of the latter and are provided with means extending beyond the vertical edges of the same for engagement with the window-frame, whereby the curtain is held against upward movement. A familiar type of such curtain-fixtures consistsl of a stick having outwardly-springpressed heads adapted to run in grooves in the windowframe and to hold the curtain against upward movement by frictional engagement with the bottoms of the grooves. Such devices are most commonly employed upon Vstreet and railway cars and are often carelessly or unskilfully handled. It is therefore essential that the iixture be capable of righting itself or returning to a horizontal position after being `forced into an inc ined position and thus left. It is desirable that the device be also capable of maintaining itsef in its normal horizontal position even when the curtain is adjusted by grasping the curtainstick at a point near one end ofthe same and applying force to move the curtain up or down.

Heretofore it has been suggested to give the heads or tips which run in the grooves an elongatedform, so that they will extend for a considerable distance above and below the plane of the stick. The objection to this is that when the stick is canted the upper end of one head and the lower end of the other head are made to receive all of the pressure of the outwardly-forcing springs in the stick.

Conse uentl the device becomes wedged inA the window-frame when canted and will not right itself automatically. It has been suggested to pivot the elongated head to the outer end of an outwardly-spring-pressed stem or rod which is slidably fitted in the end of the stick. In the use of such devices it has been found that when the stick is canted the spring-propelled rods run out, the device as a who;e lengthens itself, and the heads are pressed 'firmly into engagement with the window-frame. To right the device,'the lower end must be pushed up by hand or the higher end be pulled down in the same way. rlhis type of device has been somewhat improved by providing spring means which tend to resist movement of the heads about their pivots and to force the heads into perpendicularity with the stick. Such devices have, however, been more eX- pensive and compicated than is desirable,

and, moreover, in these devices an accurate in a high degree scf-righting and seQf-alining,

and which is of simpe and economical construction.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevational view of one of the lower corners of a curtain fitted with my invention,

one end of the curtain-fixture being shown.

In this figure the device is represented as being in its normal horizontal position. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view ofthe same. Fig. 3 shows a horizontal section of the same, the sect-ion being taken on the line 3 3 of F ig. 2 looking downward. F ig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but shows the curtainstick tilted into an angular position. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form of head. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but shows the parts as they appear when the stick is incined. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing a further modification.

In these several igureS, 10 is the curtain, having the usual pocket 11 near its lowerredge. l/Vithin this pocket 11 is a tubular curtainstick 12, slidably arranged in each end of which is a short stem 13, constituting an extensible end for said stick. Carried upon the outer end of this stem 18, but without pivotal or other direct connection therewith, is a head 14. The end of the stem is flattened at 15 and inserted into the head 14 through an opening 16 in the back thereof. The flattened end of the stem is perforated for the reception of a pin or spindle 17, which eX- tends vertically above and below the stem, and thus forms a cross-piece for said stem.

Normally the spindle 17 lies against the inside of the back of the head 14, being held in engagement therewith by a stiff flat spring IOO IIO

18. This spring engages at a point midway between its ends the end of the stem 15. The ends of this spring 18 are seated against blocks 19 and 20, these blocks being riveted or otherwise secured in place in the head at the ends thereof. The spring 18 thrusts the stem back, or, what is the same thing, the head forward, and holds the spindle 17 and the inside of the back of the head in engagernent with each other.

, Within the stick 12 is a spring 21, thrusting against the inner end of the stem 13 and tending to move the stem and the head earried thereby outward. The blocks 19 and 20 `are thus caused to engage the window-frame 22. These blocks by their frictional resistance to being moved along the window-frame hold the curtain against upward movement under the influence of its spring-roller, it being understood that a continuously-acting roller will ordinarily be used.

The springs 21 and 1S may be said to be arranged in tandem, the spring 21 tending to force the stem forward or toward the windowframe and the pressure of this spring being transmitted to the head through the spring 18, the latter tending to thrust the head forward on the stem. The spring 18 is made siiliieieritly stili to hold the stem and its cross-piece 17 back and the crosspiece in engagement with the back of the head as long as the curtain-stick is in a horizontal position and both of the friction-blocks 19 and 20 are squarely in engagement with the window-frame; but when the stick is canted, as seen in Fig. el, the stick and head assume an angular relation to each other, one end of the cross-piece 17 being moved away from the back of the head, as shown. The spring 1S is flexed by this movement ofthe head out of perpendicularity with the stick and resists such movement, with the result that the pressure upon the friction-block 20 is lessened, or this 'friction-block may be slightly tilted out of engagement with the window-frame, as shown in F ig. L1.

.Tf the head were rigidly lixed to the stein 13, canting of the stick would cause the stem 13 to be thrust into the stick 12 against the tendency of the spring 21 to thrust the stem outward. This spring 21 would consequently exert a greater pressure upon the stem, and as this excessive spring-pressure would all be received by the friction-block at one end of the head the device would become wedged in the window-frame. In a device in which the head is attached to the stem in accordance with the present invention canting of the stick does not cause the stem to be driven fartherinto the stick, and thus impart greater compression to the spring. The stern may with my device even run out slightly and the spring be permitted to extend itself when the stick is eanted. This will of course depend upon the relative strengths of the shown and described herein comprises a stick I having spring-extended ends and carrying at Veach end an angularly-movable head, the

stick having at each of its ends two fulerumpoints, over one or the other of which the head swings or tilts when moved out of perpendicularity with the stick, combined with spring means adapted to resist movement of the head away from either of said points and tending there by to maintain the head square with the stick. This in and of itself is not new. In devices of this`v type when the head and stick are tilted out of perpendicularity with each other the head becomes a lever having arms of unequal length. It is to be observed that in the present invention it is the longer of these arms that is held in engagement with the window-frame, while the shorter arm is withdrawn therefrom. In other devices of this type the reverse is true, the shorter arm being pressed into contact with the window-frame and the longer arm being moved away from the same. Such a device is shown in United States Letters Patent, No. 690,980, granted to J. H. Milans January 14, 1902. This difference between the present invention and the older devices of this type results in a very marked difference in the self-righting qualities of the devices. In the older devices canting of the stick must necessarily compress the springs, which tend to lengthen the fixture and press the heads against the window-frame. The amount of this compression for-a given width of window-frame depends, primarily, upon the vertical length of the part that engages the back of the head and is increased by the use of strong righting-springs, such as must be used in these older devices. In my present invention canting of the stick does not compress the spring 21, but ilexes the righting-spring 18. This spring 1S could be made so stiil' that the device would become practically a rigid liead-iixture, in which case the spring 21 would of course be compressed when the stick became eanted. in practice, however, this spring is not given this extreme degree of stiffness, but is made considerably stiiler than would be necessary to keep the vertically-extending part 17 against the back of the head at all times while the stick is horizontal. By reason of the fact that this part 17 is located within the head and is held against the inner side of the back of the latter canting of the stick tends to tip this part 17 'forward or toward the windowframe instead of forcing it and the stem backward, as in older devices. Because of the IOO IIO

great leverage obtained the end of the head which is held in engagement with the window-frame does not exert a very great degree of pressure thereupon, and conse* quently the device is in a marked degree free to be righted by the upward pull of the curtain-roller and the downward pull of gravity upon the iixture.

In the form of the device shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the head 23 is formed with an elongated opening 24 in the back thereof, and the stem 25 is formed with the cross-piece 26 integral therewith. This cross-piece 26 is provided at each end with a shoulder 27, both of these shoulders being normally held in engagement with the back of the head by the action of the spring I8.

In Fig. 7 is shown a head and stem of modied form. In this form of the device the cross-piece is` formed integral with the stem, and. a coil-spring 2S is arranged to thrust the stem back and maintain the crossn piece in contact with the back of the head as long as the stem is perpendicular to the head. When the stem and head are moved out of perpendicularity with each other against the resistance of the spring, one of the ends ofthe cross-piece will be moved out of engagement with the back of the head, as shown in the figure, and the head swings on the other end of this cross-piece.

What I claim as new, and desire to securev by Letters Patent, is-' l. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a curtain-stick having spring-extend ed ends, heads carried'by said ends, said stick having at each of its ends two bearing-points over one or the other of which the head may swing when moved out of perpendicularity with the stick, and a second spring adapted to move the head away from the stick proper and tending to resist tilting of said head away from either of said bearing-points.

2. In a curtain-xture, the combination of a curtain-stick having extensible ends, a spring for extending said ends, heads carried by said ends, said stick having at each of its ends two bearing-points over one or the other of which the head may swing when moved out of perpendicularity with the stick, and a second spring located within the head and adapted to move the head away from the stick proper and tending to resist tilting of said head away Yfrom either of said bearingpoints.

3. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a stick, a head beyond the end of the stick, an extension slidably arranged within the stick and extending into the head, said extension being provided with upwardly and downwardly extending members located within the head and over which the head may turn when said head is moved out of perpendicularity to the stick, and a spring tending to resist movement ofthe head away from either of said upwardly and downwardly extending members.

4. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a stick having an extensible end, a head carried by said end, said end projecting into the head and having two bearing-points within the head for engagement with said head, and a spring within the head adapted to resist movement of the head away from either of said bearing-points.

5. In a curtain-fixture, the combination of a stick having an extensible end, a spring adapted to extend said end, a head carried by said end, said end projecting into the head and having two bearing-points within the head-for engagement with said head, and a spring adapted to resist movement of the head away from either of said bearing-points.

6. In a curtain-iixture, the combination of a stick, a stem slidably arranged in the stick and projecting from the end thereof, a head carried by said stem, said stem having a point of engagement with the head above the plane of the stick and a point of engagement with the head below the plane of the stick, a spring for thrusting said stem outward relative to the stick, and a spring for thrusting the head outward relative to the stem and tending to resist movement of said head away from either of said points.

7. In a curtain-lixtura the combination of a stick, an outwardly-spring-pressed extension at the end ofthe stick, a head carried by said extension, said extension having a point of engagement with the head above the plane of the stick and a point of engagement with said head below the plane of the stick, and a spring adapted to move said head outward on said extension and to resist movement of said head away from either of said points of engagement.

8. In a curtain-iixture, the combination of a stick, an extension at the end ofthe stick, a head carried by the extension and normally engaging the extension above and below the stick, a spring for thrusting said extension outward relative to the stick, and a spring for thrusting said head outward relative to the extension and resisting tilting of said head.

CHARLES L. HOPKINS.

Witnesses:

G. Y. SKINNER, H. B. BUROKHART.

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